NE@CONNECT – An Interview with IIIRD FLOOR Band

It’s been a while but we are back again with a new session of our NE@Connect series. Earlier this week, we did a post about IIIRD FLOOR’s music project ‘Hey Hori‘. IIIRD FLOOR is a Dibrugarh band based at New Delhi. We caught up with the band and here’s what transpired from it – a quick insight on their musical quest and thoughtful reflections on music from the region.

What’s the story behind “IIIrd floor” – the name, the members, the music. How did it all start?

It all began with casual evening jam sessions in our apartment in Delhi. As me (Bittu Dutta) and my brother (Jiblu Dutta) are into music all our lives, the jam sessions were a regular thing. Initially, it was very funny to keep the name as IIIRD FLOOR, but the main logic behind it was, our apartment was at the IIIrd floor where all our jamming began collaborating with one common friend of ours.

How do you describe your music?

The genre of our music is not specific yet, but it is mostly inspired by reggae, psychedelic rock, indie pop, and a bit of folk music. We name our genre as REGGAE-TONIC POP.

There is always an inspiration behind a song, the lyrics, the music , the rhythm…What’s the inspiration behind “Hey Hori”?

The inspiration behind “Hey Hori” is nothing but the soul of the song, which is related to the daily miseries suffered by the common people. Our world is suffering, and through this song we want to build awareness inside people’s mind by seeking God’s grace. In simple words, it means “Oh God! Bless Us”.

What are the major hardships that you face as a band from the north-east and trying to make a presence in the mainstream Indian rock scene?

Till date, the major hardship that we faced was none other than the fact that we belong from the “north-east”. It gets really hard to stand and hold a position in the mainstream, as unlike us, there are many more lined up. There were times when we used to fetch gigs in some local pubs, but got rejected just before time to go on-stage. Being fresh and new, the initial struggle is always a challenge.

Tell us more about your latest project?

Our soul focus, as of now, is the release of “Hey Hori” album by this year. This album consists of 5 audio tracks including the title track “Hey Hori” as the first video.

What’s your inspiration and how did you come up with the idea?

Our main idea, for the album, was to collaborate the title song with our friend Ene (from Africa). As both her and ours’ idea matched for the soul of the song, we began with our music sessions. She, being a reggae singer and her inclination towards reggae music, made it easier to co-relate and compose a song like “Hey Hori”.

Who are your top five musicians from the north-east?

One should never judge between musicians, as all source of music have some or the other inspiration hidden. But to name a few from the north-east, we mostly follow: Rewben Mashangva, Soulmate, Papon and some more.

What other projects are you working on?

Currently, we are more focused on the release of our album. Also, we are planning to shoot another song from the same album in the coming days.

How can people get access to your music?

People can easily get access to our Reverbnation and Facebook pages for the tracks. People can also access our video on YouTube once we release the album.

Music being a big part of our culture, there are a lot of bands from the North-east but we have not seen many successful bands from the region. What do you think is the reason behind it?

The one and only major reason behind it is the lack of exposure in the mainstream rock scene outside North-east. Here, with the number of bands lining up each day, the source of exposure decreases. Also, not many bands can come outside of North-east and lead a successful life. The only thing that matters is to work and try hard, and face all the challenges with open arms, as music is in the hearts of every living soul!